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Published: June 22nd 2009
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Daulatabad Fort Today we did a tour of Daulatabad Fort, Ellora caves, and Mini Taj Aurangabad aka Bibi Ka Maqbara.
Today was more or less the same as yesterday (Ajanta caves and being photographed for being Korean, etc) We first started off seeing the Daulatabad Fort. We literally took about 10 mins to look around and I didn't think it was worth seeing but it was on our way to Ellora so we saw it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, just a waste of money.
Next was Ellora Caves - Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock cut architecture. The 34 Caves being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave Temples and monasteries, were built in proximity to demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during the 5th and 10th century. Cave 16 was our favorite, truly amazing carvings of monkeys and elephants. The Hindu designs were phenomenal and so intricate. I hope I was able to capture some of the beauty on camera.
Mini Taj is an imitation of Taj Mahal at Agra. The Mini Taj is made mostly of sandstone and has plastered walls and a marble dome, it was completely white so it was hard to see the oblong
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Daulatabad Fort shapes and designs on the walls. We can't wait to see the real Taj at Agra. Glad we ended our sightseeing in Aurangabad w/ this.... it was getting hotter and hotter by the minute. Going to relax by the pool tomorrow and then leave for Delhi.
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On our way to the airport from Aurangabad to Delhi, it was a little unsettling. First... when we were checking out, there were a bunch of business men at our hotel... strange if you ask me since Aurangabad is known mainly for sugarcane and cotton. They looked like they were either CIA, MI6 or something but definitely not I.T.. Anyway, that's not the unsettling thing, as we were on our way to the airport, our driver didn't know where he was going and ended up dropping us off at the front entrance of the airport. As I was trying to get my luggage out of the car, the military/police men came over, opened the driver's door and started to slap, punch and kick him, while the other policemen pointed his shotgun to his head. Then the other police man looked at us and said, "I'm shoot him". I was thinking, why is he
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Monkeys by the fort telling us this and why are they hitting him? I didn't understand what they were saying in Indian to him but from their gestures, the driver wasn't supposed to drive up to the airport entrance but should have dropped us off at the outer entrance which was another 15-20 feet away. They told us to get back in the car w/ our luggage and get dropped off 20 feet away. I thought that was so stupid since we were both out of the car and also just needed to get 1 more luggage out. Anyway, we got back in and the driver just drove over 15 feet and then we got out. I was just stunned at the violence and how they carelessly pointed their guns like toys, jeez... felt so bad for our driver, I really think he was crying when we got out.
Nick thinks they raised the alert level due to some bombing that killed 25 people in Pakistan the previous night and another thing about a bomb in Delhi that I couldn't catch on the news. That was the reason for that incident w/ the car driver and we also had to go through so
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More pictures of Ellora Cave no. 16 many security checks. I was joking w/ Nick about where are we supposed to go and change our bags, etc, in this secured room after the first security check only to get all of our bags rechecked outside the room, then again another security check 10 feet away and then body searched again just outside the stairs into the plane. I was like this is crazy!!! I didn't feel nervous until I sitting next to some young guy that kept fidgeting throughout the whole plane ride to Mumbai/Delhi(it was a commuter 2 hop plane ride). He just kept shaking his leg nervously and all I was waiting to hear was someone shout... which someone did and I almost freaked!!! But it was a small boy who was shouting at the sights he was looking at from his window. Anyway, so glad he got off the plane at Mumbai.
Finally got to our hotel in Delhi and our hotel had the same security checks as the airport, scanning our bags at the gate, then when we got out of the car, then again at the hotel's entrance, when we pass to go in. It's great that security is tight but
I think they can cut down on 1 security checkpoint or 2. I guess Nick is right that it's better to be safe than sorry.
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